By Natasha Julius

Market Update
Tension in the global markets eased this week as a long-held economic theory was once again proved correct: America can be counted on to under-perform in sectors Americans don’t really care about. Domestic manufacturers, however, took heart in recently-released figures showing we can still out-perform Canada without even really trying.
When You Care Enough . . .
In further economic news, Hallmark announced this week plans to supplement its new, modern-themed Journeys line with a limited run of “Sorry I may have unwittingly infected you with drug-resistant TB” cards. Always sensitive to changing demands, the company is also considering adding “Sorry County Jail is a festering death-trap” and “Nice to see you out of quarantine” designs for fall.

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Posted on June 2, 2007

By Steve Rhodes

“Though Democrats control the House, Senate and governor’s office, the party’s iron grip on power turned arthritic Thursday when it failed to pass a state budget, dropped the ball on utility rate relief and lurched the gridlocked legislature toward overtime,” the Sun-Times nicely summarizes for us this morning.
“Among the potential casualties from the party’s stunning Statehouse implosion were consumers facing skyrocketing power bills, homeowners coping with soaring property taxes and uninsured Illinoisans banking on Gov. Blagojevich’s stalled universal health insurance plan.
“‘I’ve been in this building through five governors, and this is the most rudderless ship of Illinois government I’ve ever seen,’ said Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale).”

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Posted on June 1, 2007

By Steve Rhodes

The Tribune calls it “A $100 Million Mystery” atop its front page today: A graduate of the University of Chicago has donated $100 million to the school “to eliminate student loans for hundreds of undergraduates,” the paper reports.
The donor has asked to remain anonymous. Various news reports call the gift the largest ever to a university in Illinois.
“The cash gift . . . will provide full scholarships each year for about 800 students whose family incomes are less than $60,000,” the Tribune account says. “Another 400 of the college’s 4,400 undergraduates, whose family incomes are less than $75,000, will have roughly half their loans replaced with grants.”

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Posted on May 31, 2007

By Steve Rhodes

The provision in the gambling expansion bill now before the General Assembly that would reimburse a star-studded cast of political insiders for their lost investment in the failed Emerald Casino has been removed, and the excessive cash the legislation would deliver to Chicago State University has been trimmed back. But this is a bill that keeps on giving. Call it an Emil Jones Special.
Carol Marin writes this morning that “The proposed legislation provides for four new casino licenses, one of which would be for the south suburbs, specifically designated to be within ‘eight miles from the Indiana border.'”
You don’t need to consult Mapquest to figure it out. As Marin notes, the town of Dolton, ruled over by the notorious Shaw brothers, fits the bill.
“And the Shaws still have powerful friends in high places, not the least of whom is Senate President Emil Jones, an ardent fan of gaming, a 30-year friend of the twins, and a ferocious supporter of a south suburban casino location,” Marin writes.

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Posted on May 30, 2007

By Steve Rhodes

State legislators, public interest groups, and reporters ought to read the 218-page gambling expansion bill now before the General Assembly – and supported by the governor – awfully closely, because state senate president Emil Jones is at it again.
The Sun-Times reports this morning that “tucked within” the bill is a $32.8 million bailout of the female and minority insider investors in the failed Emerald Casino.
Apparently the politically connected – including Chaz Ebert, Connie Payton, and former Chicago Bear Shaun Gayle – expect to be granted risk-free investment opportunities when the fix is in, even if the fix goes kerflooey.
“Jones (D-Chicago) is believed the driving force behind the language protecting Emerald investors,” the Sun-Times account says.

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Posted on May 29, 2007

By Natasha Julius

Happy holidays, everyone! Parts of our brains will be taking a break from reality this long weekend. The rest, we devote to you.
Market Update
Despite the brave face presented by industry insiders, analysts predict the surge in raw materials will result in increased pressure on the already strapped Cardiac Health index.

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Posted on May 26, 2007

By Steve Rhodes

New CTA chief Ron Huberman says fares will rise to $3.25 a ride and the Yellow Line and Purple Line Express will be shut down if the state doesn’t step up with an adequate funding package,
The Sun-Times splashes the story on its front page with the headline “Is The CTA Bluffing?”
The paper lists seven previous doomsday warnings issued by the CTA since 1997, implying that the agency is crying wolf.
Another way to look at it, though, is that the CTA is continually operating in crisis mode because it has never had a secure funding stream and workable business model.

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Posted on May 25, 2007

By Steve Rhodes

Teenagers have the Tribune to thank this morning for making their lives even more miserable than they already are when it comes to overbearing adult supervision.
As a result of the paper’s teen driving series, both the Illinois House and Senate have now approved legislation that “would make Illinois’ licensing program among the nation’s most stringent,” the Sun-Times reports.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected to sign the measure into law.
Not everything in the bill is objectionable, though it hardly seems as if a Teen Driver Safety Task Force convened by Secretary of State Jesse White 10 months ago was really necessary.
Then again, White and state legislators weren’t about to look a cheap political gift handed to them by the state’s biggest media concern in the mouth. Not only is this apple pie legislation, but teens don’t vote.

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Posted on May 24, 2007

By Steve Rhodes

“Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed records from Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s campaign fund as part of a sweeping corruption investigation into whether top aides and advisers exchanged state business and jobs for political support,” the Tribune reports today atop its front page.
Here’s the part I like.
“On Tuesday, Blagojevich offered a rare opportunity for news media interviews. The administration refused an interview request from a Tribune reporter who rejected the condition that the questions remain solely about the governor’s budget proposal.”
Damn straight. That’s newspaperin’!
And it gets better.

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Posted on May 23, 2007

By Steve Rhodes

A new city council was sworn in Monday and Mayor Daley told them to skip the politics. That’s the mayor’s job.
The role of aldermen was explained on Sunday by the Tribune’s Dan Mihalopoulos and Robert Becker: “Before voting on most significant legislation, aldermen generally turn for instruction to Daley’s lobbyists, who hover around every meeting of the council and its committees.”

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Posted on May 22, 2007